Books: A Question of Time

THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS by Giorgio Bassani. 293 pages.
Atheneum. $4.95.

The Leopard has sired a cub. Giuseppe di Lampedusa's posthumous novel
described the life of a decaying aristocratic family during a period of
social crisis in Sicily; The Garden of the Finzi-Continis describes the
life of a decaying upper-class family during a period of social crisis
in Ferrara. What's more, Novelist Bassani, an established poet, critic
and editor who was responsible for the publication of The Leopard, has
obviously learned from the master: his style is as rich and iridescent
as...